aanmoedigen
to encourage | aan + moed (courage) → put courage on someone → encourage
avontuur, het
adventure, the | avonTUUR has ‘tour’ in it → adventure
balen
to be bummed/annoyed (informal) | say ‘bah!’ when things suck → balen
chocola, de
chocolate, the | looks like chocolate
discussiëren
to have a discussion | discuss + -iëren (to do) → to discuss
eindeloos
endlessly | einde (end) + -loos (less) → endless/ly
excursie, de
excursion, the | nearly the same word in English
extreem
extreme | same root as English
geheim, het
secret, the | also German ‘geheim’ = secret → hush-hush
geruststellen
to reassure | rust = rest/calm; set someone at rest → reassure
gitaar, de
guitar, the | looks like guitar
kroeg, de
pub, the | think keg → where you’d find it? the pub
liefs
love (sign‑off) | lief = dear/sweet; used to close emails/messages
overeenkomst, de
similarity, the | overeenkomen = correspond/agree → a correspondence/similarity
psychologie, de
psychology, the | same as English (spelling change)
rechten, de
law; rights | recht = right/law; Rechten = the field of law
steunen
to support | steun = support (noun) → steunen = to support
stiekem
secretly | sneaky ‘stiekem’—do it on the sly
sympathiek
nice; likeable (false friend) | not ‘sympathetic’—means pleasant/kind
verdwalen
to get lost | dwalen = wander; ver‑ makes it end up lost
verlegen
shy | leggen = lay → ‘lay low’ around people → shy
volwassen
adult | vol (full) + wassen (grow) → fully grown
waarderen
to appreciate | waarde = value → to value/appreciate
wensen
to wish | looks like ‘wish’ with an e
